I was recently hired by the American Lung Association of New England to overhaul the website for their great new campaign, Own Your Air. Despite being about two weeks old, the existing website (as of the time of this post) is quite dated, and lucky for me, ALA is unhappy with the results. The firm who designed the current site also did the identity (which will also be getting an overhaul), and used Helvetica (Swiss, actually) Black for the logo.

I don’t believe Helvetica Black is an appropriate style face for a campaign about air quality (well, more than just that, but that’s the gist). To me, there’s nothing air-like about Helvetica Black whatsoever. It’s corporate, cold, bulky, blocky, and other objectionable adjectives from the beginning of the alphabet. The target audience is ages 25 to 45. I’m somewhere in the middle of this range, and I find its appearance absolutely unappealing. ALA wants cutting-edge, fresh, but the project managers (10+ years older than me) aren’t interested in any of the contemporary typefaces I have proposed.

The original (Helvetica/Swiss Black):

Current proposal (Sauna Bold):

As appropriate as I feel the example above may be for this project, they want something “bigger,” “bolder,” “more forceful,” “less friendly,” “more empowering,” etc. I understand they’re looking for something that screams for a call to action (empowering people to take control of our air quality), but I also feel it should reflect the subject of the call to action itself.

They wish to keep it in title case, with the period. Other options are not an option.

Part of me says, “Give ’em what they want,” but I happen to really believe in this campaign and wish to get it right. I also have a great relationship with these guys, and would like to maintain it.

I’m not really sure how to proceed from here (both type-wise and politely educating the client any further). What are your thoughts? Any advice you may have would be quite appreciated.